The war in Syria entered its seventh year in 2017 and it has caused the world’s largest displacement of population. Around five million Syrians have fled to neighboring countries, and more than six million remain internally displaced. The consequences have been particularly dire for children and youth.

School attendance has dropped by more than 50 percent in Syria, and according to the UN, 1,75 million Syrian children were out of school in May 2017. A quarter of the country’s schools have been destroyed during the war and over 50 000 teachers have left their jobs, leaving Syrian education in a crisis.

FCA and its strategic partner; International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) work in the education sector, with a small intervention of Livelihoods in the form of Cash for Work projects in the southern, central, north-eastern and western parts of Syria through the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch (GOPA).

The war has kept many Syrians out of school for years and they receive remedial classes to catch up. In addition, FCA contributed in supporting the children of Syria to roll back to formal schooling by providing tuition fees.

As part of developing the capacities of education personnel in highly fragmented country, FCA and IOCC/GOPA have facilitated Teachers’ Trainings on several conflict-related topics including PSS and classroom management. Connecting teachers from Daraa through the Zoom technology has also been important part of the teachers’ capacity building.

In the autumn of 2016, FCA also launched a programme to deliver emergency food assistance to Syrians in war-torn Aleppo and other badly suffered regions.

Part of the growth in the FCA program in Syria is to directly enroll in establishing operations in various locations where the need is enormous, while maintaining the strategic partnership with IOCC/GOPA.